Knitting needle



July 33, H923.

s. E. MFT

KNITTING NEEDLE Filed Jan. 29. 1920 Patented duly 3, i223.

NETE@ STATES Parent @ein i SYDNEY E. TFT, OF FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 SPARTAN' NEEDLE COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION 0F RHODE ESM-m.

KNITTING NEEDLE.

Application led January 29, 1920. Serial No. 354,764.

Tov all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SYDNEY E. TAFT, a citizen of the United`r States, and a resident of Framingham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Knitting Needles, ot which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

rThis invention relates to knitting instruments and more particularly to that type ot instruments wherein the yarn drawing and loop shedding members have independent movements.

T he invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims and in the accompanying drawings l have shown merely for illustrative purposes a single embodiment of the invention wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the instrument somewhat enlarged;

Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive are detail views somewhat enlarged illustrating the operative ends of the yarn drawing member and sheath in various positions occupied thereby during the loop forming operations;

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the upper end of4 the sheath member;

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the same, and

Fig. 9 is a transverse section taken sub` stantially on the line 9 9 of Fig. 2.

lin the drawings 1 is the knitting instrument consisting of a yarn drawing member 2 having at its upper end a suitable hook 3 for engaging the new yarn during the knitting operation and drawing said new yarn through a previously formed loop that is being supported upon the shank of said yarn drawing member in the usual well known manner.-

rlllhe hook embodying this invention may be constructed in various forms but herein l have provided a hook having a relatively long beard 4 which may or may not-beresilient; herein, however, the said beard is shown as relatively nonresilient although it is slightly rounded upon its front edge and tapered substantially from the bend or head to its extremity where it preferably terminates in a point 5. lllt is desirable for reasons hereinafter explained that the taper ofl said beard be confined to the outer edge thereof and :furthermore that the degree of said taper be increased rather abruptly at the portion 6 nearthe point 5.

The material composing the hook 3 ot the yarn drawing member is considerably re- 1 duced in thickness, or extenuated so as to produce a hook, the bend whereof will be large enough to .allow the yarn to freely reeve therethrough and yet retain the outside dimension of said bend at least substantially within the dimension of the shank or stem 8 from its front to its rear edges. 'lhe reducing ot the end of said member 2 results in the formation of the neck Z which tapers gradually from the large to the smaller dimension and thereby produces an inclined edge 9 a short distance beneath the point 5 of said beard.

A butt 10 is provided upon the shank 8 ot said yarn drawing member and constitutes means whereby said member may be functioned during knitting. The yarn drawing member 2 is further provided with a groove 11 extending longitudinally of a portion ot one side of its shank, as shown in dotted lines Fig. 1 and in full lines Fig. 9. This groove extends a substantial distance from the inclined edge 9 downward in the direction of the butt 10 and its purpose will hereinatter appear.

Cooperating with the yarn drawing mem` ber is a member 12 herein designated as a sheath.I the principal function whereof is to enter the loop supported upon the shank ot the knitting instrument and to spread or otherwise manipulate said loop so as to permit the yarn drawing member with its newly received yarn to be drawn therethrough for the purpose ot forming a new loop, but during such operation it is desirable that the spreading of the loop be reduced to a minimum so that-the yarn comprisingsaid loop will v not be unduly stretched or its normal elasticity or strength be impaired and furthermore so that there will be as little rendering oft yarn from one loop to another as possible when knitting is being produced upon a series ot the instruments.

To best accomplish the above results the sheath, or at least that portion of said sheath that is used as a loop `entering element, is arranged in slidable engagement with one side only of the yarn drawing or hooked member 2 and herein against that side containing the groove 11. The term side E,

herein used to designate the faces of the members 2 lying parallel with the plane of the hook.

i be arranged at one side only of the member 2 although such an arrangement is preferable as it makes the total thickness of the member 2 and the sheath 12 uniform throughout the length of the instrument hence providing lateral support for all parts thereof, the grooves in the needle cylinder being substantially equal in width to the total thickness of said instrument.

As one function of said sheath is to enter the loop supported by the knitting instrument, it is desirable that the two members constituting said instrument be given from time to time relative sliding movements and that during said sliding movements said members be properly guide-d one upon the other. For this purpose means are provided which herein consist of outstanding portions or ribs 13 and 14 at the front and rear edges respectively of said sheath, which ribs engage the corresponding front and rear edges of the'shank 8 of the yarn drawing member 2.

The rib 14 extends substantially the entire length of the sheath, but the front rib `13 terminates at a point 17 considerably above the butt 10 principally for the purpose of producing a gap 16 to expose the front edge of the shank 8 whereby, when said instrument is used -in a knitting machine, the usual spring bands may be employed to provide the necessary friction between the said instrument and the bottom of the groove insaid cylinder and also to retain said member 2 against the rear rib 14, the purpose of the latter function being hereinafter more fully explained. l

The terminating of said rib 13 at the point indicated also provides a gap 18 through which the butt 10 of said yarn drawing member may protrude so as to permit action thereon by its functioning means. Below the range of movement of said butt the rib 13 is supplemented by a filler block 19 which constitutes 'a guide for the lower end of the shank 8. Furthermore the block 19 is of considerable depth being substantially coextensive with the portion of the sheath to which the block is attached; said coextensive portions extending to the face of the needle cylinder, thus to provide a continuous surface for engagement with the knitting cams of the machine.

The relative sliding movements of the naanoo? members 2 and 12 may be produced in various ways and it is not imperative that they be given positive independent movement. Herein, however, I have elected to provide the member 12 with an independent operating butt 15 constituting for convenience an extension of the filler block 19, and this butt 15 and the butt 10 of the yarn drawing member are adapted at the proper times to be acted upon and thus positively function their respective members.

As previously stated one function of the sheath is to enter the old loop supported by the yarn drawing member and in order that said sheath may be made to enter such a loop, the upper end thereof is reduced in size, preferably pointed at 2O herein by tapering or bevelling the end of said sheath at 21 and 22 on the lfront and rear portions thereof so as to position the apex or point 20 substantially midway of the front and rear edges of the sheath or at such a location that said point will lie between the neck 7 and the beard 4 of the hooked yarn drawing member. In addition to beingpointed the upper end of said sheath is slightly inturned as shown most clearly in Figs. 7 and 8 and the inturned point so formed is arrange-d to move lengthwise in the hereinbefore de-v scribed groove 11 of said yarn drawing member, during the knitting operations.

A second and very important function of the sheath 12 is to guard or cover the point 5 of the hook in order to effect the shedding of the old loop and in the present example this function is effected by forming upon said sheath, point, guarding means as shown at 21 constituting a part of the' outstanding flange 13 at the front edge of the sheath.

The member 21' is separated from the body or the main portion of said fiange by a recess 22 which is extended laterally of the sheath member slightly beyond the inner face of the outstanding portion 13 and constitutes a throat for said sheath wherein the old loop during the knitting operation may rest and be separated by the point guard 21 from the new yarn which is fed to the needle during the knitting operation when the hooked end of the yarn drawing member and the loop entering point 20 of said sheath are separated as shown in Fig. 4.

As clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the point guarding member 21 is especially formed. or in othcrwords all corners are rounded and the upper and lower edges 23 and 24 are sharply inclined. so as to facilitate the riding of the loop or yarn over said member in either direction during the reciprocations of said sheath, said point guarding member being substantially the equivalent of the spoon employed in the ordinary latch knitting needle. It will be seen by referring to Fig. 9 that the ard 21 is slightly rounded or curved at 2 to effect a llO titl

arrancar Substantial conformance of said guard with the rounded and tapered beard 4f of the hook 3 and also to provide a smooth and not too abrupt hump over which the old loop may ride when suiicient pressure is exerted thereon. It will also be evident that by curving said guard as shown the beard of the hook when covered or protected thereby will be less likely to become deflected or misplaced with respect to said guard by reason of the recess formed thereby and within which the point or beard ot said hook will rest during the loop shedding operations.

ln Figs. 2 to 6inclusive the knittin instrument is shown in various positions indicating certain steps of the loop forming operation these positions beiner shown in relation to the knitting plane indicated by the line a-a. ln lFig. 2 the two members namely the yarn drawing member 2 and the sheath 12 are indicated as occupying positions wherein the old loop has just been shed from the hook and the knitted web is shown supported upon the neck of said hook. Fig. 3 illustrates the two members of the knitting instrument separated so as to bring the inclined surface 9 of the yarn drawing member just above the corresponding inclined portion of the sheath 12 or in other words this inclined surface 9 on the hook member is arranged just above the lowermost point of travel of the loop entering element of the sheath 12 and cooperates therewith to perform the next or loop entering step in the operation. With the members in these positions they having previously been moved thereto by means of the butts 10 and 15, the instrument is in a position to be raised with respect to the line a-a so as to cause the loop entering point 20 to enter' the loop shown supported by the shank of the needle, preferably at one side and substantially midway of the throat and the supported or closed end thereof. At this time said loop entering point is resting. in fthe slot or groove 11 and by being inturned as described, said point will be buried beneath the edges 25 and 26 upon opposite sides of said groove (see Fig. 9) and thereby all danger of said point striking the side ot said loop will be removed. As said knitting instrument continues to rise, the inclined surface 21 of the sheath will have a tendency to spread the loop and at the same time eitfect a progressive wiping action from the point of engagement thereof toward the supported end of the loop, or in the natural direction of elongation of said loop, and thereby tend to prevent elongation or strain of that portion of the loop that is so susceptible to such strains in the ordinary method of knitting namely that part which directly engages the front portlon-of the shank of the needle. The joint movement of the sheath and hooked yarn drawing member upward continues until the loop supported by the shank of the yarn drawing member has reached the throat 22 of the sheath as shown in Fig. l which indicates this step in the operation and at this time a new arn is laid across the neck oi the hook beneath the beard thereof.

'lhe next step in the knitting operation consists in relatively moving the members 2 and 12 until the point 5 of the beard is fully covered by the guard 2l but to insure said point passing inside of the guard 2l rather than outside, or rather than striking upon the upper edge ot said guard, the enaging portions are relatively bevelled.

or example the beard in the present instance is tapered upon its outer edge as previously described and should the beard accidentally or otherwise be bent slightly outward the abruptly inclined portion 6, b engaging the upper edge of said guar will be deiected inwardly to its normal position within said guard.

To still further insure the passing ot said point 5 inside ot the guard 21.' the rib 13 has been cut awa)Y as hereinbetore stated to form the gap 16 through which the spring bands of the knitting machine, not shown, may engage directly against the front edges of the Shanks 8 ot the yarn drawinom members and cause them to remain pressed firmly against the rear rib 1li.

Following the last mentioned operations the yarn drawing and sheath members are moved simultaneously to a lower position causing the loop that up to now has been restin in the throat below said guard to .be re eased therefrom and shed or cast ed over the hook and the yarn contained therein, thereby forming a new loop as will be seen in Fig. tl.V

As a natural consequence ot arranging the sheath member at one side only of Ithe hooked yarn dra-wing member and in constructing said sheath ont very thin material, little, it any, stretch will be loop during the insertion ot t e'loop entering portion of said sheath and in the subsequent shedding oi the said loop over the end of the hook.

Within the scope and purpose of the invention the instrument herein shown and described may be used either in crocheting or in knitting by hand, or said instrument i's equally adapted for use in various types of knittin machines wherein the butts 10 and l5 wil be functioned automatically by suitableknitting cams and :tor purposes oi? the present application the term knitting should be understood as including various constructions such as chrocheting, knitting or the like.

While ll have herein shown and described merely for illustrative purposes one speciic embodiment oil my invention and have dirlltlil aca reduced in a aca a pointed loop closed and discussed in detail the construction and arrangement incidental to such disclosure, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangement of the parts nor to the specific application herein shown,

but that extensive variations from the illustrat-ions ma be made without departing from the principles thereof.

Claims:

1. A knitting instrument comprising a yarn drawing member and a'sheath having a loop entering element arranged at one side of said yarn drawing member substantially midway between the edges of said sheath.

2.4 A knitting instrument comprising a yarn drawing member and a sheath having a loop entering element arranged at one side only oit' said yarn drawing member intermediate the edges ot said sheath.

3. A knitting instrument comprising relatively slidable hooked yarn drawing and sheath members, said sheath member having entering element located at one side only of said yarn drawing member 'and between the neck and beard ot the hook of said latter member.

4. A knitting instrument comprising a yarn drawing member and a sheath having an inturned loop entering point arranged to move longitudinally and at one side of said yarn drawing member.

5. A knitting instrument comprising a yarn drawing member grooved along' one side below the neck thereof and a sheath having an inturned tapered loo) entering element arranged with its apex su stantially intermediate tllie front andrear edges of said sheath to move in the groove of said yarn drawing member.

6. A knitting instrument comprising a grooved yarn drawing member and a sheath arranged atl one side of said yarn drawing member haring guiding portions at the front and rear edges thereo ,the end of said sheath being,` bevelled at its front and back edges to form a point for cooperating with the groove of said yarn drawing member to enter a loop.

7. A knitting instrument Comprising a grooved yarn drawing member, and a sheath arranged at one side of said yarn drawing member having outstanding guiding portions at the front and rear ed es thereof, the end of said sheath being beveed ut its front and back edges to form a point for cooperating with said yarn drawing member to enter a loop and means including a part of the outstanding portion at the front edge of said sheath to effect the shedding of a loop from said yarn drawing member.

8. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member and a oneranged to ed by said yarn drawingr member at the side and intermediate the throat and the supported end of said loop.

9. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member and a sheath member having a loop entering element arcnter the loop supported by said arn drawing member at one side'` only and lntermediate the throat and the supported end of said loop.

10. A knitting instrument com rising a hooked yarn drawing. member aving a groove extending longitudinally of one side of its stem, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member and having an inturned loop entering element to move lengthwise in said groove and means on said hooked member to cooperate with said groove in effecting the entrance of said element in a loop.

11. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove extending longitudinally of one side ot its stem, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member and having an inturned loop lentering element to move lengthwise in said groove and means including an inclined edge on said hooked member to cooperate with said groove in effecting the entrance oit said element into a loop.

12. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove extending longitudinally of one side of its stem, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member and having an inturned loop entering element to move lengthwise in said groove and means including an inclined edge on said hooked member adjacent to the lowermost point of travel of said loo entering element to cooperate with sai element in eiiecting the entrance thereof into a loop.

13. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove extending longitudinally of one side of its stem from the neck ot said yarn drawing member downward. a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member and having an inturned loop entering element to move lengthwise 1n said groove and means including an inclined edge on said hooked member above the lowermost point of travel of said loop entering element to cooperate with said element in e'ecting the'entrance thereof into a loop.

14. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member, a sheath arranged to slide upon one side of said hooked member, a loop entering point formed upon said sheath at said side of said hooked member and intermediate its front lil() Lesmo? and rear edges and a hook oint guard on said sheath to elfect the shedding of a loop over the hook of said hooked member.

15. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member, a sheath arranged to slide upon one side of said hooked member, a loop entering point formed upon said sheath intermediate its front and rear edges and a hook point guard at the Afront edge of said sheath to ei'ect the shedding ai a loop over the hook of said hooked mem- 16. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove at one side thereof, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member, an inturned loop entering element on said sheath to move in the groove 'of said hooked member during :itsv loop entering operations and means at the front edge of said sheath to separate the new yarn from the old loop during the loop forming operation.

17. A knitting -instrument comprising a vhooked yarn drawing member having a groove at one side thereo, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member, an inturned loop entering element on said sheath to move in the groove of said hooked member during its loop entering operations and means extending from said sheath across the front edge of said yarn drawing member to separate the new yarn from the old loop during the loop forming operation.

18. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove at one side thereof, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member, an inturned loop entering element on said sheath to move in the groove of said hooked member during its loop entering operations and means extending from said sheath across the Jfront edve of said yarn drawing member to separate t e new yarn from the old loop during theloop forming operation and to cover the hook of said yarn drawing member to effect the .shedding of said old loop.

19. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove at one side thereof, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member, a loop entering element formed at the end of said sheath to move in said groove during the loo entering operations, andoutstanding gui e members at opposite sides of said sheath to extend across the front and rear edges of said hooked member, a ortion of the front outstanding guide memlber 'being separated from. th'e main portion thereof by a recess const1tuting a throat to receive the old loop supported by said instrument and to separate said loop from the new yarn during the loop forming operation.

20. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member having a groove at one side thereof, a sheath arranged to slide upon the grooved side of said hooked member, a loo entering element formed at the end of said sheath to move in said groove during the loop entering operations, and outstanding guide members at opposite sides of said sheath to extend across the front and rear edges of said hooked member, aportion of the front outstanding guide member being separate from the main portion thereof by a recess constituting a throat to receive the old loop supported by said instrument and to separate said loop from the new yarn during the loop forming operation, said separated portion also oonstituting a guard to cover the point of the hook of said yarn drawing member during the loop shedding operation.

21. A knitting instrument comprising the yarn drawing member 2 having a hook 3, and the sheath member 12 providedl with the loop entering element 20 arranged to first enter the loop at a point at the side between the neck and beard of the hook.

22. In a knitting instrument the grooved hook member 2 and the relatively movable sheath member 3 having a loop entering element 20 adapted to first enter the loop at the side of said hooked member to move in said groove and a point guard 21' at the front of said hook member.

23. ln a knitting instrument the hooked yarn drawing member 2 and the pointed loop entering element 2O arranged to eii'ect the initial loop entering function at one side of the hooked member between the neck and beard thereof.

24. A.' knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member and a sheath member relatively slidable longitudinally of said yarn drawing member adapted to effect the initial entering of the loop at one side only of said hooked yarn drawing member.

25. A knitting instrument comprising a hooked yarn drawing member and a pointed sheath member relatively slidable longitudinally of and upon said yarn drawing member having its point adapted to edect the initial entering of the loop upon said yarn drawing member at one side only of said loop.

In testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification.

llOtl 

